PreK Presents the Nativity Story

St. James Day School PreK had our Christmas Program on Thursday, December 7, at St. James Episcopal Church. This time of year it is easy to get caught up in the rush of the Christmas holiday and lose focus on what is the true meaning of Christmas. The children were able to share the Nativity story to a sanctuary filled with loving family members and friends. I am so blessed to be able to teach my students about Jesus’ birth and talk openly about God at St. James. The children were very dedicated to learning the songs and movements for the program. How impressive these children are! They memorized songs, lines, solos, and moving parts. This takes a tremendous amount of focus, attention and courage to get in front of a lot of people. These kinds of activities are very important to their social-emotional development.  Young children’s social-emotional development involves learning how to understand their own and others’ feelings, regulate and express their emotions appropriately, build relationships with others, and interact in groups.  Children’s interactions with others are crucial to their learning.  When their interactions are positive, young children are more likely to have positive short and long-term outcomes.  Words could never express how proud I am of their determination and hard work.

We stepped back in time to 1697 and visited the 5th grade living history exhibit of Colonial America.  We started in the Southern Colony of Maryland, followed along to Pennsylvania Colony and finished in the Rhode Island Colony.  PreK was very attentive to the presentations, and were able to purchase penny candy from the general store.